Second Biennial ASHE Conference ABSTRACT The objective of the second biennial American Society of Health Economists (ASHE) conference is to provide a forum for emerging ideas and empirical results of health economics research. More specifically, the goal of the conference is to enable a large community of health economists to gather to present and discuss high quality papers representing new and innovative research in important areas of health economics. The final outcomes include better research, generation of new research ideas, development of junior researchers, dissemination of cutting-edge ideas, and better policies. One of the topical areas is addiction. Plenary speakers, scientific sessions, and posters will cover topics such as the theory of addictive behaviors, cost-effectiveness of addiction treatments, disparities, substance abuse and risky behaviors, and financing of treatment, that would move forward NIDA's research agenda. One of our invited plenary speakers, Gary Becker, PhD, a Nobel Laureate and Professor at the University of Chicago, will speak on health and rational choice. Becker is known for his insightful theories about individual behavior in both familiar settings (the family unit) and in trying to explain unusual behavior (such as addiction). His paper on rational addiction spawned numerous other researchers to delve into this topic, both theoretically and empirically. We currently have five sessions already organized on substance abuse, with papers and presenters confirmed. Many of the health economists who will attend are NIDA grantees and others may become interested in these topics after hearing the plenary speakers and the papers presented. The second biennial ASHE conference will be held at Duke University in Durham, NC on June 22-25, 2008. There will be pre-conference session held on Sunday, June 22. Regular scientific sessions will be held Monday through Wednesday, June 23-25. We expect attendance of about 700. ASHE is a relatively new organization, recently formed as an affiliate of iHEA. Through its activities, ASHE provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and information among health economics researchers, policy makers, and those who fund health economics and health policy research. We hope that NIDA will be interested in funding a small portion of the cost of mounting this conference, as it did in 2006. Title: Second Biennial ASHE Conference PROJECT NARRATIVE The objective of the second biennial American Society of Health Economists (ASHE) conference is to provide a forum for emerging ideas and empirical results of health economics research. The second biennial ASHE conference will be held at Duke University in Durham, NC on June 22-25, 2008, with a pre- conference session held on Sunday, June 22. We hope that NIDA will be interested in funding a small portion of the cost of mounting this conference, as it did in 2006. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]